HB 17-1072

House Bill 17-1072, which has been signed into law, updates Colorado's human trafficking laws. It makes it illegal for anyone to advertise or sell travel services that are used to facilitate the sexual exploitation of minors and extends this prohibition to cover people of all ages. The bill also requires that individuals convicted of such offenses be placed on the state’s sex offender registry, regardless of the victim's age. Additionally, it allows those who were previously trafficked themselves to petition the court for removal from the registry if they can prove that their actions were a result of being trafficked by another person. This law affects anyone involved in human trafficking activities and aims to protect victims while holding perpetrators accountable.

Official Summary

The bill amends the language defining the crime of human trafficking for sexual servitude to include that a person who knowingly advertises, offers to sell, or sells travel services that facilitate activities defined as human trafficking of a minor for sexual servitude commits the offense of human trafficking of a minor for sexual servitude. 'Travel services' are defined in the bill. Current law requires a person convicted of human trafficking of a minor for sexual servitude to be placed on the Colorado sex offender registry; the bill extends that requirement to persons convicted of human trafficking of any person of any age. The bill adds a provision to law allowing a person who was convicted of human trafficking for sexual servitude to petition the court to discontinue the person's duty to register on the sexual offender registry if he or she can establish, by a preponderance of the evidence, that at the time he or she committed the offense, he or she had been trafficked by another person for the purpose of committing the offense. (Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)

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